Chapter 121
The cliff walls at the midpoint: 8 Votes
“Hmmmm… Ah, to hell with it,” Kestrel said, ruffling her feathers and setting her wings comfortably against her sides. “We ain’t in the business of doin’ nothin’ small. Why not plant a bomb and get set to blow it up should we need to? That’s as good a way as any to make a statement on our way outta the door.”
Trixie regarded the crumbling cliff side and frowned. “Well… Trixie supposes she can set it up to work. Some gunpowder in the right spots will take the whole cliff down. It’s just… the last time Trixie tried to use explosives to help us out, it didn’t exactly go so well…”
Kestrel shook her head as memories of the nearly-botched train robbery came back to her. Not derailing the train had nearly gotten her and Silver killed, and if something went wrong here, there was even less margin for error, considering the position they Gang would be in trying to defend the cliff. But Trixie was skilled with her explosives, and that miscue in Rock Ridge had to be a one-time fluke. There wouldn’t be any problems pulling it off this time… right?
“Well, I’ll hope that you learned what went wrong back there in Rock Ridge, and you ain’t gonna let it happen again.” Kestrel lightly slapped Trixie on the back with a wing and turned the two of them away from the quarry. “Anyhow, let’s start makin’ our way back to camp. We gotta report back on what we wanna do now that we know where to set up shop. There’s a million and a half ways this thing could go tomorrow, and I wanna make sure that we’re the ones with the initiative to play our cards rather than gettin’ caught on the back hoof. Ain’t nothin’ more dangerous than bein’ forced to react instead of bein’ the ones actin’.”
“Trixie supposes that makes sense…”
The two mares trotted out of the quarry, making sure that nopony was walking along the road that ran past it when they emerged from behind the ‘NO TRESPASSING’ sign. Then, taking a leisurely stroll back in the direction of camp, they set off along the roads to the west of Hoofston, at least until Kestrel spotted a glint of silver flying through the sky in the direction of the quarry. Pausing, Kestrel looked up, stuck her feathers in her mouth, and let out a shrill whistle, a piercing noise that made Trixie flatten her ears against her skull and take a step back. Within moments, the silver speck in the sky changed course, and quickly circled down to the road to join them.
“Oh, there you are,” Silver Wings said, alighting on the ground with four clops of her hooves and tucking her feathers back into her folded wings. “We just finished puttin’ things away back at camp. Or, well, the rest of the Gang did. Tumbleweed had me flyin’ ‘round this mornin’ lookin’ for a good spot to go and park the wagons overnight so we can get outta here soon as the ransom deal goes down tomorrow mornin’.”
“You find anythin’ good, then?” Kestrel asked her. “Usually I’m the one pickin’ the spots, so I hope you’re livin’ up to my standards.”
“I know how to find a spot good enough, Kessie,” Silver said, playfully sticking her tongue out at the older mare. “Found a spot along the road about three miles north of the quarry. The trees come together on both sides over the road, so ain’t nopony gonna see anythin’ from above, and there’s a bend in the path with enough grass on the outside to go fit our wagons for the night. Shouldn’t be too much of a problem; ponies goin’ along that road are just gonna think that we’re more travelers stoppin’ for the night ‘fore we continue on with our journey.”
“So long as we ain’t got no Pinks goin’ along that road,” Kestrel said. “Place like that, we’d be hemmed in good. Ain’t nothin’ nopony could do but stand and fight. Trees ain’t gonna be far enough apart to fit wagons through ‘em if they’re close enough together to get a solid canopy over the road.”
“It’ll be fine, Kessie,” Silver insisted. “I know you’re pretty worried and all, but we’re gonna get outta this in one piece. Now, how ‘bout the quarry? Find anythin’ useful?”
“We found a place where we can trigger a rockslide with some of Trixie’s fireworks,” Kestrel said. “Might be useful should we come to blows with the Apples. Or if the Pinks are there. Anypony down in the canyon’s gonna have a bad day.”
“That’ll definitely start a fight,” Silver said. “I thought the whole idea was to get outta this thing without a fight?”
“We can only control how we wanna act. If the Apples ain’t gonna play fair with us, helps to have some tricks up our sleeve.” Then Kestrel gestured along the road. “Well? How’s ‘bout you show us where we’ll be spendin’ the night? It’ll help if the three of us get a bit to look at it and feel it out ‘fore the rest of the Gang shows up.”
“Sure,” Silver said, and she turned around to start walking north up the road. “This way; it ain’t too far. Should be there in an hour or so.”
Silver’s estimate wasn’t too far off, and in just a little over an hour, the three mares found the spot Silver had scouted out. A dense copse of trees grew around a road cutting east and west north of Hoofston, which a sign helpfully marked as one of the roads to New Oatleans. The uppermost branches of the trees weaved together into a dense canopy, casting the dirt road in spotty, flickering shadows. The section of trees was only about half a mile long, with the bend Silver found sitting squarely in the middle of it, where the eastbound road jogged north for a bit before turning east again once it exited the trees. From that bend, the ends of the tree ‘tunnel’ were plainly visible. The Gang would be able to see who was coming in from both sides, so they would at least have that little advantage going for them, should it come down to it.
“This’ll do,” Kestrel said, nodding approvingly once she scouted the area out. “We can circle up the wagons for cover if we’re attacked and fall back into the trees if need be. So long as nopony comes at us from through the trees, then this is pretty defensible.”
“My thoughts exactly,” Silver said. “And I ain’t thinkin’ this road’s gonna be too traveled. At least, not between tonight and tomorrow mornin’. Ponies ain’t gonna wanna go through a dark place like this when they could get robbed by outlaws hidin’ out in here… like ourselves.”
Trixie looked up and down the road and furrowed her brow. “Trixie always tried to avoid roads like this, or at least go through them with other ponies, when she was still traveling. She’s been mugged too many times to not learn that lesson.”
“And now you got a bunch of friends with guns to keep you safe,” Kestrel assured her. “Ain’t nothin’ to worry ‘bout. Now, I ain’t sure ‘bout you two, but I’m gonna catch a nap under one of these trees ‘til the rest of the Gang shows up. Ain’t gonna get much sleep tonight, I know. Gotta get some saved up now so I can spend it tomorrow.” Yawning, she picked a tree and sat down against it, her wing pulling her hat from the top of her head and using it to cover her eyes. “Wake me up if Pinks start killin’ us. Or not. Dyin’ in my sleep’s probably the best I can hope for in life, at this point.”
-----
It took most of the day before the Gang finally showed up at the spot Silver had picked out for them. Roughshod pulled in their supply wagon first off, followed by Tumbleweed and Snapshot moving Trixie’s wagon, and they parked them off the road in the bend, each angled slightly to provide the most protection from each end of the road. The mood among the outlaws was tense and quiet, just as it always was right before another guaranteed brush with death. No amount of music, singing, or joking around could cover up the tension there.
Kestrel reported in with what she’d seen at the quarry and what the plan was as soon as Tumbleweed had a minute free to listen to it. When she was done, Tumbleweed set about moving the Gang members into action to prepare for what they were about to attempt. He made sure Trixie spent the night improvising some demolition charges to take down the cliff face should they need it, and tasked her and Snapshot with getting the charges into position before the sun came up in the morning. Silver would accompany them to help set it up, then get some clouds into position and pick a perch to watch the thing from above. Hopefully, as the day unfolded, Silver would be able to tell where everypony around the quarry was, and serve as a lookout in case something seemed fishy. Then the two Gang leaders distanced themselves from the rest of the Gang to discuss some of the finer details of the plan in private.
“It’s gonna be risky, ain’t no way of gettin’ ‘round it,” Tumbleweed mused, the orange glow in the end of his cigar the only illuminating light under the dense canopy, save for whatever silver moonlight could pierce the drying leaves of the trees around them.
“Think we knew that, ‘fore this whole thing got set up,” Kestrel answered back. “But we at least got the opportunity to drop a surprise on the Apples ‘fore they pull one on us.”
“Our surprise ain’t gonna mean much if they surprise us first.” Tumbleweed frowned, and a few specks of glowing ash fell from his cigar like a couple of orange raindrops dancing on the air currents to the ground below. “This whole thing’s held in good faith that neither of us are gonna start shootin’ first. I know the Apples ain’t gonna trust us much to hold to that part of the bargain, same as we don’t trust them much either.”
“Starlight and her group are supposed to be acting as intermediaries,” Kestrel said. “They’re gonna make sure everythin’ goes down fine.”
“One hopes.” Several moments of uncomfortable silence hung in the air, the only noise around the two ponies coming from mosquitos and the hooting of an owl. “I hate playin’ the waitin’ game. You know that. I always prefer to be actin’ rather than reactin’.”
“You know I’m the same way, boss.”
“So why are we settin’ ourselves up to react?” Tumbleweed pursed his lips in thought, the cigar light casting eerie shadows around his muzzle. “We got a bomb placed on the cliffs. That’ll surprise the Apples to no end. In that confusion, we can cut ‘em down fast. Once they’re dealt with, we take the money and scram. Then we can shoot our lovely guest of ours to tie up the last loose end or just let her go with a warnin’. Either way, it lets us act. We ain’t gonna be the ones who get caught on the back hoof.”
Kestrel winced as she thought through Tumbleweed’s proposed plan. She considered herself a mare of honor; could betraying a ransom held in good faith be worth the potential benefits from it? She supposed it came down to whether the Apples were planning on keeping their side of the bargain or if it was just a trap to wipe out the Gang and get Applejack back without having to part with any money. The Gang had tested so many bear traps by stick their hoof into the middle and yanking it out right as the teeth started to close. One of these days, they weren’t going to be fast enough.
Would tomorrow be that day? Or was she just worrying about it too much?
1. Hold the ransom in good faith. We can’t afford to run our word through the dirt. The fact that the Apple Conglomerates even wanted to have this meetin’ is more than we could have hoped for. If they wanted us dead, they’d have found a way to do it that doesn’t risk puttin’ Applejack’s life in danger. Let’s go through the ransom and only shoot if they start shootin’ first.
2. Use the rockslide as a distraction to escape. Soon as we get the ransom and get outta the bottom of the quarry, we blow the walls down and run like hell. The Apples’ll probably just start tryin’ to shoot us soon as they get Applejack safely away from us and they ain’t gonna risk hittin’ their own ponies with any bullets. Let’s surprise ‘em by actin’ first and scramblin’ away while the dust and debris chokes up the quarry.
3. Strike first. Soon as the Apples settle in ‘round the quarry, and Tumbleweed, Wanderer, and Applejack start goin’ down our side to meet for the ransom, we blow the walls and start shootin’. We’ll have the initiative there, and we’ll be able to act first. All goes well, we can cut our way through the Conglomerates’ party ‘fore they can even really start shootin’ back at us. Then we can take our time to grab the money and run, assumin’ they even bring the money to this thing in the first place. Better to be the trapper than the trappee.
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1.
Hmm, yeah...In hindsight we may have gone a bit too big with the explosives plan. Unless we somehow can have Gizmo handle it.
Either way, we've made the bed and I say we lie in it. Option 2
Option 1. No point making more enemies than we need.
Option 1 tbh. Let's be honorable criminals at least.
Option 1
1: On guard, but go through it.
Option 1. We may be thieves, murderers, bandits, and kidnappers, but we ain’t liars! Wait, no, we’re liars too... well, our word means something damnit!
Option 1. I don't like going back on an agreement and killing someone after settling an agreement isn't my style either. Go through with the original plan and only shoot if shot at.
Option one ( 1 ). If there's no need to fight, don't!
I honestly think they’re going to shoot at us, regardless of how it goes. In that regard, I think we go with 2. The distraction should do great in helping us get away safely and we don’t have to take on however many there might be at the quarry.
2
Probably a bit late, but I also vote option 1.
1. Generating a reputation for Honoring deals will help make others more likely to trust us in the future.
1.
Let's pray that ol' Apple integrity holds up in this universe.
1.
Not sure I trust Trixie to not accidentally blow up the entire gang, but I guess we're committed to the plan now.
I feel like option 3 is probably a bad idea, but I'm not sure I entirely trust option 1. Split the difference, let's use the rockslide. Option 2. If Trixie is going to blow up the gang we might as well lean into it.
With the amount of bounty we have on us, it would be naïve and stupid to hold the ransom in good faith. For all we know, their sharpshooters on the cliffs will instead be a swarm of bounty hunters.
Option 2